Search Results for: the environment this month

How about that Groundhog, eh? Hahaha! I love the tradition (yes, I’m aware it’s bogus). There’s six weeks either way, anyway. Snow and ice is in the forecast for a while longer. So, let’s get started without another minutes pining for spring.

You might recall an article about the threat of micro-beads to the environment. Australia is stepping up to meet the danger. However, like all other advances, the next step appears to be a problem as well…

Australia is ridding its cosmetics and soaps of plastic microbeads, but it may have unintended consequences, a leading scientist has warned.

Honestly, I think I should be less aghast that this is happening, yet again, than I am. Each time another pipe is proposed, constructed, and inevitably leaks, I feel like whacking my palm against the foreheads of those who approved such insanity. Failure to learn from the past? Refusal to accept what the past has taught us? Or, is it willful refusal, both to care or pay attention? Perhaps just bald-faced insanity born of gold lust…

A federal judge heard testimony Thursday that construction of a crude oil pipeline in a Louisiana swamp is tearing down irreplaceable, centuries-old trees, destroying animal habitats and jeopardizing fishermen’s livelihoods.

But the company building the Bayou Bridge pipeline though the heart of Cajun country insists that governmental regulators issued a permit for the project after thoroughly and properly assessing its ecological risks.

Back across the seas, in the tumultuous mid-East, environmentalism was set back this month… (Yes, there are pockets of environmentalists in Islamic countries—something Western News sources don’t much like to report on, because it runs contrary to the image they’d like to paint of middle eastern peoples.)

An Iranian academic and environmental activist imprisoned by Iranian authorities last month has died in prison, his son wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Kavous Seyed-Emami was the managing director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which seeks to protect Iran’s rare animals, and a U.S.-trained scholar in sociology.

Why am I not surprised? Yet again, policy from the current administration is pure horseshit that benefits no one but the big businesses and top percent of this country. Deregulation is code for free-for-all. Those who end up paying the price, are poor and middle class. We’ve carried the tab for those who deem themselves the ruling class long enough (centuries).

Americans don’t want this. A poll of likely voters commissioned by the Center for American Progress and Defenders of Wildlife found that 94% of likely voters—including 92% of Trump voters—believe we can build and modernize America’s infrastructure while also maintaining environmental protections for air, water, wildlife, and natural places.

Americans want strong and durable bridges. But they also want the water that flows underneath them to be fishable and swimmable. The Trump infrastructure plan would reduce scrutiny of projects that would discharge pollution into the nation’s waterways. It also would undermine states’ power to object to projects that would pollute waterways or drain water resources within their borders.

I apologize for the continued bad news. This next piece comes from the incomparable EDF…

Swiftly after arriving in office, the Trump Administration launched multiple attacks on the crucial limits on the amount of methane pollution — a dangerous greenhouse gas — that the oil & gas industry is allowed to vent, leak, and simply burn off (in a process called “flaring”) on America’s public and tribal lands.

The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has released a new proposal to replace these protections. But this new draft falls far short of what we need, putting Americans’ health and safety at risk.

The hardest part about watching the current American administration is watching the perception of the United States as a world leader dissolve. It reminds me of a skit mocking the Nazis where two uniformed soldiers realize by way of the skulls on their hats, that they’re the baddies. Of course I knew that the USA was not universally admired. A legacy of clear imperialism has taken its toll. However, the USA was a redeemable nation, if not for the achievements of its citizens, then for the drive to be better and fulfill the promise placed on paper in the late 1700s. But, Jesus, that is a long time to go with saying one thing and doing another.

Yet, here we are in 2018, slitting our own throats and embarrassing ourselves worldwide. I hope every day that matters will be resolved, but that is hope-less, I have a sneaking suspicion…

“The Trump administration has been sloppy and careless, they’ve shown significant disrespect for rule of law and courts have called them on it,” said Richard Revesz, a professor at the New York University school of law.

“I expect we will see a number of further losses for the administration on similar grounds. If they keep showing the same disregard for the law, their attempt to repeal all these environmental regulations will go badly for them.”

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Happy New Year! We’ve made it through a full year of the 45th Presidency of the United States. While the rapture hasn’t occurred (to the best of my knowledge), It feels very much like the end times as all the hard work of decades is carefully unwound around us. Let us get to work putting a stop to that. It’s far too important to stand by and watch this happen. 2017 was the year of finally taking a stand. Don’t turn that energy into backing up.

From Paris to the White House to the wildlands of the Pacific Northwest, the environment was big news in 2017.

Next up, something that no one saw coming. I’m sorry. Was my sarcasm too direct? When are we going to move away from fossil fuels? When will there be enough spills to make us realize this is not helping?

An oil spill from an Iranian tanker that sank in the East China Sea is rapidly spreading, officials said Tuesday, alarming environmentalists about the threat to sea and bird life in the waterway.

Keeping with the who’d-a-thunk-it theme, I came across this little gem. It might help brighten your day to know that someone is following up, but also the facts that they found…

When grocery stores tout sustainable products, consumers may take their claims at face value. Yet few studies have analyzed whether or not companies who claim to improve the sustainability of their products are actually changing practices in their supply chains.

In a new study published online Dec. 22 in the journal Global Environmental Change, Stanford researchers carried out one of the first analyses of a company-led sustainability program in the food and agriculture space. Studying the agricultural supply chain of Woolworths Holding Ltd. (Woolworths), one of the five largest supermarket chains in South Africa, they found that its Farming for the Future program drove increased adoption of environmental practices at the farm level.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a little bit more of a lift. Let’s take a look at an encouraging trend. At least, this is a trend that reveals marginalized groups are being noticed and taken increasingly serious by journalists, if not society at large. That’s a step in the right direction, for as the quote below says, there is no climate justice without racial justice…

Native American tribes, islanders and communities of color led the toughest environmental fights of 2017.

“There is no climate justice without racial justice,” McHarris boomed as the temperature reached 91 degrees, tying a record for late April. “There is no climate justice without gender justice. There is no climate justice without queer justice.”

If you’ve given up on your little corner of the world, and were wondering about where would be a nice place to escape to, I have a great list to start you out…

Healthy environments help contribute to healthy people. The concept of individual health being tied to the surrounding environment is increasingly being embraced. Data sets such as the Environmental Performance Index, developed by Yale University, evaluate the impact government policies have on environmental affects on people and the vitality of a nation’s ecosystem.

The Best Countries for Green Living scored highest on a compilation of three country attributes: cares about the environment, health conscious and innovative.

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Can you believe it is the end of 2017? I hardly believe the Earth is still relatively the same. After the feces laden year we had out of 2016, I feel like things weren’t as bad as they could have been. But, then, 45 does attempt to make up for any good that comes our way. How about that serrated dildo disguised as a tax plan, for one? Any who, let’s get on with the round up…

I thought this next piece was especially timely considering the holidays. Before you roll your eyes at this one, give it a read, and try to think about that patch of floating garbage in the pacific. Then imagine, what would happen to sea creatures who ingest these things? What if they were super small, like flecks of glitter? Here’s what the experts have to say:

Environmental anthropologist Dr. Trisia Farrelly told The Independent that glitter can cause harm to our oceans because it’s a type of microplastic, which are especially destructive as they accumulate in the world’s bodies of water.

Bitcoin has always struck me as a bad thing, whether it was the ponzi-scheme it seems to be to the types of people investing in it something stinks. As the recent bubble expands, journalists are looking more deeply at this new currency. It is not good for the environment. That’s not really something I expected, but also doesn’t surprise.

“Just one transaction can use as much energy as an entire household does in a week, and there are about 300,000 transactions every day. That energy demand is more often than not met through fossil fuel energy sources, which, along with polluting air and water, emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change.”

The gutting of our monuments has been put forward by 45’s administration, as we expected. Native Tribes, however, are not standing by and taking it. Unfortunately, the history doesn’t bode well for this fight. All I can think is that President Theodore Roosevelt (R) who fought so hard for our nation to set aside parks permanently as a legacy.

A group of Native American tribes filed suit against President Donald Trump and a host of administration officials on Monday, alleging that Trump’s decision to significantly shrink Bears Ears National Monument is “in violation of the United States Constitution and the Antiquities Act of 1906.”

A well-balanced diet is important to your health as well as the health of the environment. Although vegans believe that their way of life is the single answer to all the ills of farming, however science doesn’t bare that out. Balance is required, and that means that the compact nutrition of animal products still has a place on the table. I agree we need better practices around farming, but also with plant based farming, because that also affects wildlife.

While the US rolls back regulations, China is making moves to clean up the act of those who pollute…

China aims to establish a comprehensive damage-compensation system to protect its environment in the next three years, Xinhua reported, citing a document issued on Sunday by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

Please remember to keep fighting, even when you feel it is too bleak to matter. Every small step forward counts against the many steps those in power would like to take us back. It’s better, that if you are sliding back, to mitigate that slide. Here’s a list of times the environment won, despite power and control by sociopaths…

In the name of making spirits bright, here are five times Trump’s environmental actions didn’tsucceed at trashing planet Earth in the past year.

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Welcome back for another round up for The Environment This Month. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to round up any of the news in October. It’s tough finding time for the blog since having a child. I’m so glad I wrote the articles I could ahead of time. This month, while we feel an early cold snap in New York, I’m hoping to get back to my schedule and bringing you the best content possible.

First up this month is a cause close to my heart. I’m very excited to report that the DiCaprio Foundation has taken on the preservation of North American Grey Wolves. That means there is a lot more hope for our local canids. The foundation has done extensive environmental work already. I’d like to see them add Mexican Wolves to their lists, too. That species is in grave danger. Check out the announcement here:

To help in the recovery of this iconic species Leonardo DiCaprio is supporting the work of Defenders of Wildlife and their effort to bring back the Mexican Gray wolf in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Over the past year because of their work with ranchers and other partners for the first time, the wild population reached a record 113 wolves, up from 97 during the previous year.

Despite the attempts of 45 and his administration, the world is moving ahead with the Paris Agreement. Which, quite frankly, makes me feel a hell of a lot better. We might be poisoning our own back yard, but the rest of the world is going to do their damnedest to fix things, and that will put the pressure on the United States necessary to make addressing environmental issues a priority. They can try to resist, but that will fizzle, especially in the court of public opinion.

The United Nations is hosting the annual climate change conference in Bonn, Germany this year and the first one taking place since US President Donald Trump took office.

I don’t know about you, but I’m seriously exhausted by people who want to go an kill other animals for sport. There’s no sport in it at all. Besides, the fact of the matter is, that behavior is deeply sociopathic and should not be condoned. This is not hunting to feed a family. No. This is hunting to make one’s ego feel good and full. I don’t know about you, but my gut tells me when I’m doing something wrong. Even just preparing a fish or chicken fills me with dread unless it’s already been dressed. Hunting of big game is just a big fat waste. A lot of the animals are also endangered. To feel entitled to kill something—that’s just disturbing. I’m glad to see the following response to 45’s ludicrous decision.

The suit, filed in federal court in Washington D.C. by the Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council, charges that President Trump’s decision to allow big-game hunters to import the remains of elephants and lions hunted legally in Zimbabwe and Zambia violates the Endangered Species Act.

Sometimes, when we think we’re fixing a problem, another presents itself or worsens. Light pollution is not anything new. Not by any stretch. I remember hearing of this when I was barely out of a car seat. It panicked me then, but I’m numb now, because there is so much wrong with our planet after using it like a disposable terrarium. You’d think by the time we each become adults, we’d know better from experience, but too many live in denial or believe that some fantasy being is going to make it all okay.

Thus, we must be aware that not all solutions result in a perfect answer…

To reduce energy consumption, many jurisdictions around the world are transitioning to outdoor LED lighting. But as new research shows, this solid-state solution hasn’t yielded the expected energy savings, and potentially worse, it’s resulted in more light pollution than ever before.

There are lots of good arguments for buying local, but if you’re trying to reduce your impact on the climate, local isn’t always best. If you compare online shopping with driving to the store, in many cases online shopping can have a smaller carbon footprint: Trucks have to deliver goods to stores, just like they do to your house.

Problems start when we opt for speed: We don’t just want things delivered to our door, we want them delivered to our door right now. If we can get a pair of socks delivered in two days instead of five, we’re going to choose the faster option, especially if it’s free.